Opening Day: Sox beat Jays, Trot Nixed?

The Red Sox won their home opener Tuesday in front of a full house at the new Fenway Park. The 5-3 win over the Blue Jays featured another 7 strong innings from Josh Beckett, a save from Jon Pabelbon and a few wild moments courtesy of Wily Oh No Pena.

Beckett was all smiles after a rough first inning where he walked in a run with the bases loaded. It would be the only run he allowed. Beckett's performance was a mirror of his 1st outing in Texas, as he got his pitchcount high in the 1st two innings, but still went seven.

Mike Lowell made his Boston debut with an impressive 4 for 4 day, including 3 doubles. Lowell was all but written off after a miserable spring training, but a productive season from our new 3rd baseman could be the the surprise of the 2006 season.

Big Papi David Ortiz not only got the biggest ovation in pregame introductions, but also crushed a 3-0 pitch for his 2nd home run of the year...Then there was Wily Mo Pena:

WILY

OH

NO

Wily replaced Trot Nixon who was mysteriously removed due to injury. In the 8th Wily Mo let a deep fly ball from the right arm of Keith Foulke bounce off his glove and into the bull pen. The next two batters also went after Wily, but he made the catches, and received mock applause from the crowd. Meanwhile the man they traded for Wily, Bronson Arroyo, threw 7 shut out innings and tied Ken Griffy Jr. for home runs with 2...Oh by the way, Wily also made the last play of the game:

Way to go Wily!!!

As for the changes at Fenway, more ads were thrown up on the Green Monster, including one for the Red Sox Foundation.

The glass movie theatre that was briefly called the .406 Club, and was the bane of Wade Boggs existence, has been removed in favor of open air seating...

And hey look at that...New championship flags under the Fenway Park sigh...dumbasses...Well at least that stupid 1999 Division Series Champions flag is gone...